ZINE LIBRARYSmall press, photocopied and folded.

What a Zine Is Making & Printing Formats & Binding Distros & Fairs Collecting & Archiving

Section 01

What a Zine Is

Definitions, lineages, and the kinds you will actually meet.

What Actually Counts as a ZineSelf-published, small run, no gatekeeper — and the edges of that.Read →
The Perzine, the Split and the AnthologyThe kinds you will meet, and how to tell them apart.Read →
Where Zines Came FromThe science-fiction and punk fanzine lineages, as history.Read →
Why It Isn't a MagazineScale, intent and the absence of an editor.Read →

ZINE LIBRARY

Small press, photocopied and folded.

Everything here is free to read. The cover plates are set in type — never a scan of anyone's artwork.

What a Zine Is

What Actually Counts as a Zine
The Perzine, the Split and the Anthology
Where Zines Came From
Why It Isn't a Magazine

Making & Printing

The Photocopier Is the Instrument
Why Risograph Looks Like That
Mimeograph, Briefly
Getting a Photo to Survive a Photocopier
Paper, Weight and Cost

Formats & Binding

The Half-Letter Fold Explained
Folds You Can Follow With One Sheet
Saddle Stitch and the Long-Arm Stapler
The Anatomy of a Zine
Make One in an Hour

Distros & Fairs

How a Distro Works
Consignment or Wholesale
Trades, Tables and Fair Etiquette
Tabling for the First Time
The Mail-Order Lineage

Collecting & Archiving

Cataloguing the Uncatalogued
Storing Paper That Was Never Meant to Last
What a Collection Is For

An independent guide to zines and small-press publishing. Not a library, archive or collective, and not affiliated with any.

Zine LibraryAbout · Contact

Spot ink

Paper